Bryan Wee

Exploring children’s perceptions of play using visual methodologies

Objective: A great deal of scholarly work has examined the way that physical, social and cultural environments relate to children’s health behaviour, particularly with respect to diet and exercise. While this work is critical, little research attempts to incorporate the views and perspectives of children themselves using visual methodologies. Specifically, we examine: (1) how children conceptualize play; (2) what aspects of play are important to children; and (3) the role that play assumes in guiding children’s activity patterns. Setting: Elementary school classrooms from third and fifth grade were sampled in a low-income, largely Latino/a part of southwest Denver, United States of America (USA), in late spring of 2010. Design: A qualitative study in which each child participated in a ‘photo voice’ survey and an in-class focus group. Method: The authors employed visual methodologies to explore how children conceptualized play. Photo voice surveys were administered in English and Spanish. After analysis of the photo voice surveys, children were invited to discuss their photos and drawings in small focus groups conducted in the classroom. All children who completed the survey participated in the focus groups. Results: Children in this study group conceptualized play largely in unstructured form. Family and school were important themes to emerge from the analysis of the data. Conclusion: Visual methods can clarify social-cultural dimensions of interactions between people and places, which can serve to inform research on health behaviours from children’s perspectives. Such methodologies are particularly important for research that focuses on the construction of physical environments for children.

Using Photography to Visualize Children's Culture of Play: A Socio-Spatial Perspective

Visual methodologies have great potential to offer insight into childrens culture and how it shapes childhood. We explore childrens culture of play in an urban, low‐income neighborhood using photographs as a means of encouraging participatory research with elementary school students. Focus group interviews were conducted to validate childrens perspectives on play, and all data were analyzed inductively using open coding to develop categories and emergent themes. Findings suggest that adults often define the physical boundaries of play, but children were largely able to determine the nature of their activities. Childrens culture of play in this study highlighted issues of power and privilege, while concurrently emphasizing the socio‐spatial nature of childhood.

On agendas and perspectives in environmental education: revisiting Kopnina, disciplinary imperatives and the paradoxes of (multi)cultures

As befits the aims and scope of this journal, I have always held that studies of environmental education (EE) include Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Education for Sustainability (EfS) as part of the broader research agenda. Unfortunately, EE, ESD and EfS are complex, ambiguous social constructs with multiple interpretations and varied outcomes (Stevenson et al. 2013). With limited resources to resolve environmental problems, I agree with Kopnina (2012) that ‘the endless contestation of new and alternative perspectives should not be the aim of education’ (711). Still, EE ought to be more instrumental in its focus on balancing human–environment interactions and ‘restoring a moral obligation for caring about other [non-human] species’ (Kopnina 2012, 701). As Kopnina (2012) notes, the use of the term ‘for’ in ESD and EfS ironically implies a necessary anthropocentrism, in this case agent/s of change doing what is good for the environment (cf. Jickling and Spork 1998 and Fien 2000, on ‘education for the environment’). Other commentators also note that it distracts from the end goals of ecocentrism and potentially favours human needs over a deeper harmony with natural systems (e.g. Payne 1999, 2010). A similar situation can be found in the combined fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Cobern and Loving (2001) have argued that science brings a predominantly middle-class, Eurocentric ideology to education reform and research initiatives intended to increase scientific literacy. One could argue that STEM, like sustainable development, has an oxymoronic goal of preparing a twenty-first-century workforce that will be competitive in a global economy (prioritizing economic growth), while resolving the challenges (e.g. clean energy) associated with human development and consumptive behaviours. Like other institutionalized slogans whose underlying assumptions and values are typically unquestioned, STEM continues to emphasize environmental concerns in relation to human welfare. If indeed ESD and STEM inflect problematic ‘root metaphors’ (Stables 2001, 124) that underpin post-industrial societies to the extent that they both colour and shape environmental thoughts and actions (Bowers 2001), we must critically address the basis and extent to which human–environment relationships can be transformed through an agenda-driven environmental education. I propose that any response is neither simple nor straightforward, especially in formal educational settings where environmental education, if it exists, is typically housed in science classes. While science education is recognized as a value-laden endeavour (e.g. the nature of science is a content standard in the USA, National Research Council 1996; National Research Council 2012), it is often positioned as a value-neutral practice. A science teacher once told me that her principal Environmental Education Research, 2013 Vol. 19, No. 2, 266–268, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.787047

Nationwide perceptions of US green school practices: implications for reform and research

ABSTRACT This study explored educators’ perceptions of green school practices in the USA using an online survey to address the larger issue of what it means to be “green” in an educational context. A total of 93 green schools from 27 states in the USA returned a completed survey. SPSS was used to analyze educators’ perceptions of green school practices based on the following variables: public school governance (regular/charter schools), setting (urban/suburban/rural), experience (number of years operating as a green school), and survey scores (educators’ perceptions implementing a set of green school core practices). We found a positive relationship between survey score and experience. There was also a significant difference in survey scores between regular and charter schools. However, there were no significant differences between survey scores from urban, suburban, or rural schools. Implications for education reform in the USA and future research directions are discussed.